The Huntington Beach City Council took no action at a special meeting on the rehiring of former City Attorney Michael Gates, the city announced after a 90-minute closed session discussion Friday.
Gates announced earlier this month that he had resigned from the Department of Justice and accepted an offer as chief assistant city attorney of Huntington Beach starting Nov. 24.
A federal employment document, which the Register obtained through a public records request, said Gates had been fired “for cause” after serving 10 months as deputy assistant attorney general in the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division. Gates has maintained that he resigned.
At its regular meeting Tuesday, the council called for a special meeting to address “anticipated litigation” in two emails from Gates’ attorney, Benjamin G. Chew, regarding Gates’ employment with the city.
Councilmember Chad Williams on Tuesday read out a portion of the correspondence: “Should there be an adverse employment action that damage done by the false and defamatory statements about our blameless client would be compounded, our client may have no choice but to take formal action that he would prefer to avoid.”
Forty people showed up to speak at the special meeting. Most spoke in support of the former city attorney, with one resident calling Gates an “advocate for pro-God, pro-family pro-American politics.”